Q: What is taking fruit from the forbidden tree?

A: This is a reference to Genesis 3:1-6:

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,

3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.

5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

A: I like the previous answer you got re: Genesis and the biblical reference. But, I think your question, given the context of the website and the "Criminal Law" categorization, may be referring specifically to illegally obtained evidence and if/how that evidence can be used in a criminal prosecution.

This is a very complex issue that law students and criminal attorneys spend lots of time grappling with. But at its basis, "fruit from the poisonous tree" is referring to evidence ("fruit") that has been gathered as a result of an unauthorized or otherwise illegal search/seizure (the "poisonous tree"). When a search violates a defendant's constitutional rights, the things found in the search may be "poisoned", tainted, and therefore unusable in a prosecution against the defendant. There are various ways that the evidence can be redeemed (the taint of the "poisonous tree" being eliminated or reduced), but again these are complex considerations that deserve much more time and effort than an off-the-cuff answer on Justia can provide.